Phone notifications # A call or SMS when an alert is still unacknowledged. Add a phone channel for critical alerts. Acktide waits for the configured delay and notifies the engineer’s number if the alert has not been acknowledged. [Set up notifications](https://acktide.com/en/phone-alerts.html#setup) ## Connect a phone gateway Acktide supports calls and SMS through Twilio Programmable Voice and Messaging. For self-hosted installations, an administrator connects the gateway account and defines allowed numbers. For Cloud, email [hello@acktide.com](mailto:hello@acktide.com)to arrange setup. - **Connect the gateway to your server**Set the Twilio account, access credentials and sender number in your installation’s configuration. The account must allow delivery to the destination country. - **Allow engineers’ numbers**An administrator adds recipients’ numbers in international format to the allowlist. - **Configure My channels**Each engineer enters a phone number, enables calls, SMS or both, and sets a delay between 0 and 3,600 seconds. - **Send a test alert**Send a critical alert to your recipient and wait for the phone notification. Then test cancellation: ACK before sending should cancel the pending call or SMS. ## What happens after the call The voice message or SMS asks the engineer to open Acktide and acknowledge the alert. Answering the call does not acknowledge the incident. Acknowledging, resolving or snoozing the alert cancels phone notifications that have not yet been sent. Connect and test the gateway first, then enable notifications for the required recipients. Calls and SMS are billed under the phone provider’s terms. ## Self-hosted configuration For the API and worker, set `TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID`, `TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN`, `TWILIO_FROM` and `PHONE_APPROVED_NUMBERS`. The last parameter contains a comma-separated list of allowed numbers. In Helm, credentials are stored in the Secret specified by `notifications.existingSecret`. [Add a backup engineer to your escalation policy](https://acktide.com/en/on-call.html#escalations)